Beacon content propagation

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for transmitting beacon messages are described. A beacon message is transmitted from a first beacon device and broadcast to an area within a transmission range of the first beacon device. A mobile device receives and stores the message. When the mobile device is out of the range of the first beacon device and within the range of a second beacon device, the message is transmitted to the second beacon device and broadcast by the second beacon device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 14/137,642, filed Dec.20, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety,which claims priority to the filing date of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/901,338, filed Nov. 7, 2013, which is incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the transmittal of beaconmessages from one location to another location.

2. Related Art

Even when not being used by a user, mobile computing devices typicallycommunicate with a cellular network at intervals to send and receivedata for various purposes, such as updating the time, determining thelocation of the mobile computing device, or checking signal strength.These communications are often instigated by the mobile computingdevices by sending a message to the network and receiving some form ofresponse. These actions can use a significant amount of energy andreduce the battery life of the mobile computing device.

For communicating with other mobile devices over relatively shortdistances, Bluetooth™ wireless technology has become increasinglypopular, allowing a mobile computing device to communicate wirelesslywith another nearby device without having to route the communicationthrough a network of remote devices, such as satellites and cell towers.Once the nearby device communicates a message to the mobile computingdevice, the message typically does not move any further. Thus, a needexists for systems and methods that allow the message to be spread overa larger area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for transmitting beaconmessages according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method for transmitting beacon messagesaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system for implementing a deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereinshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes the dissemination of beacon messagesfrom one transmission range to a second, different transmission range. Abeacon message is transmitted from a first stationary beacon generationdevice and broadcast to an area within a transmission range of the firstbeacon generation device. Mobile devices, such as mobile phones, canreceive and store the message. When the mobile device is out of range ofthe first beacon generation device and within the range of a secondbeacon generation device, the message can be transmitted to the secondbeacon generation device and broadcast by the second beacon generationdevice. All of these actions can be performed with minimal energy use bythe beacon generation devices and the mobile device.

As defined herein, a beacon is a short range communication device havinga known or fixed location that provides a signal that can be detected bymobile devices within a certain proximity of the beacon. An example of abeacon is a radio frequency (RF) beacon (e.g., Bluetooth™ low energy(BLE) beacon), infrared beacon or a radio frequency identifier (RFID)tag. For example, a BLE beacon can broadcast an RF signal that includesits position coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude), which can bedetected by a mobile device. In some implementations, the beacon canalso advertise location based services provided by a beacon network. Abeacon network encompasses a plurality of beacons in a geographicregion.

When a mobile device first makes contact with a beacon in the beaconnetwork, the beacon can transmit to the mobile device a list of uniqueidentifiers of other beacons in the network and other information aboutthe beacon network. Beacon networks can be located in any geographicregion including businesses (e.g., shopping malls, retail stores,restaurants, etc.), landmarks (e.g., museums, airports, parks,entertainment venues, etc.), homes and any other environments wherelocation based services are desired. Even more specifically beacons canbe placed in store shelves and end caps to give precise locationinformation about products.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a block diagram of a network-based system100 adapted to transmit a beacon message using a mobile device 120 overa network 160. As shown, system 100 may comprise or implement aplurality of servers and/or software components that operate to performvarious methodologies in accordance with the described embodiments.Exemplary servers may include, for example, stand-alone andenterprise-class servers operating a server OS such as a MICROSOFT® OS,a UNIX® OS, a LINUX® OS, or other suitable server-based OS. It can beappreciated that the servers illustrated in FIG. 1 may be deployed inother ways and that the operations performed and/or the servicesprovided by such servers may be combined or separated for a givenimplementation and may be performed by a greater number or fewer numberof servers. One or more servers may be operated and/or maintained by thesame or different entities.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a mobile device 120 (e.g., asmartphone), one or more beacons 130, 140 (e.g., a RF beacon or BLEbeacon), and at least one service provider server or device 180 (e.g.,network server device) in communication over the network 160. Thenetwork 160, in one embodiment, may be implemented as a single networkor a combination of multiple networks. For example, in variousembodiments, the network 160 may include the Internet and/or one or moreintranets, landline networks, wireless networks, and/or otherappropriate types of communication networks. In another example, thenetwork 160 may comprise a wireless telecommunications network (e.g.,cellular phone network) adapted to communicate with other communicationnetworks, such as the Internet. As such, in various embodiments, themobile device 120, one or more beacons 130, 140 and service providerserver or device 180 may be associated with a particular link (e.g., alink, such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to an IP (InternetProtocol) address).

The mobile device 120 is configured to perform one or more tasks whenmobile device 120 is located in proximity to the beacon 130 or 140. Thetask to be performed can include, for example, launching an applicationprogram, setting certain files to non-accessible mode, initiating aphone call, sounding an alarm, storing a message, etc. In oneembodiment, the mobile device 120 stores a message transmitted by thebeacon 130 or 140.

The mobile device 120, in various embodiments, may be implemented usingany appropriate combination of hardware and/or software configured forwired and/or wireless communication over the network 160. The mobiledevice 120, in one embodiment, may be utilized by the user 102 tointeract with the service provider server 180 over the network 160. Forexample, the user 102 may conduct financial transactions (e.g., accounttransfers, bill payment, etc.) with the service provider server 180 viathe mobile device 120. In various implementations, the mobile device 120may include a wireless telephone (e.g., cellular or mobile phone), atablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer, anotebook computer, and/or various other generally known types of wiredand/or wireless computing devices.

The mobile device 120, in one embodiment, includes a user interfaceapplication 122, which may be utilized by the user 102 to conducttransactions (e.g., shopping, purchasing, bidding, etc.) with theservice provider server 180 over the network 160. In one aspect,purchase expenses may be directly and/or automatically debited from anaccount related to the user 102 via the user interface application 122.

In one implementation, the user interface application 122 comprises asoftware program, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), executableby a processor that is configured to interface and communicate with theservice provider server 180 via the network 160. In anotherimplementation, the user interface application 122 comprises a browsermodule that provides a network interface to browse information availableover the network 160. For example, the user interface application 122may be implemented, in part, as a web browser to view informationavailable over the network 160.

The mobile device 120, in various embodiments, may include otherapplications 124 as may be desired in one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure to provide additional features available to user 102.In one example, such other applications 124 may include securityapplications for implementing client-side security features, calendarapplication, contacts application, location-based services application,programmatic client applications for interfacing with appropriateapplication programming interfaces (APIs) over the network 160, and/orvarious other types of generally known programs and/or softwareapplications. In still other examples, the other applications 124 mayinterface with the user interface application 122 for improvedefficiency and convenience.

The mobile device 120, in one embodiment, may include at least one useridentifier 126, which may be implemented, for example, as operatingsystem registry entries, cookies associated with the user interfaceapplication 122, identifiers associated with hardware of the mobiledevice 120, or various other appropriate identifiers. The useridentifier 126 may include one or more attributes related to the user102, such as personal information related to the user 102 (e.g., one ormore user names, passwords, photograph images, biometric IDs, addresses,phone numbers, etc.) and banking information and/or funding sources(e.g., one or more banking institutions, credit card issuers, useraccount numbers, security data and information, etc.). In variousimplementations, the user identifier 126 may be passed with a user loginrequest to the service provider server 180 via the network 160, and theuser identifier 126 may be used by the service provider server 180 toassociate the user 102 with a particular user account maintained by theservice provider server 180.

In some embodiments, the mobile device 120 includes a communicationsubsystem 128, which can include RF receivers and transmitters and/oroptical (e.g., infrared) receivers and transmitters. The specific designand implementation of the communication subsystem 128 can depend on thecommunication network over which the mobile device 120 is intended tooperate. For example, the mobile device 120 can include communicationsubsystems designed to operate over a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) network, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)network, an Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) network, aWi-Fi or WiMax network, and a Bluetooth™ network.

Beacons 130, 140, may be set up by merchants or individuals offeringvarious items, such as products and/or services for sale. Beacons 130,140 are typically maintained by one or more service providers. Beacons130, 140 together form a beacon network. When the user 102 comes inrange of beacon 130 or 140, a mobile application run by the serviceprovider can wake up and connect to the beacon 130 or 140. The mobiledevice 120 can then receive and store messages from beacon 130 or 140.In some implementations, beacons 130 and 140 are BLE beacons.

Beacons 130, 140 can output a wireless signal that can be detected bymobile device 120 when the mobile device 120 is within a certainproximity of the beacon 130 or 140. Beacons 130, 140 may be a devicethat periodically or continuously transmits a signal, such as ashort-distance wireless (e.g., BLE), medium distance wireless (e.g.,Wi-Fi), and/or other electro, magnetic, and/or electro-magnetictransmissions. The mobile device 120 is configured to detect thetransmitted signals from beacons 130, 140, such that when the mobiledevice 120 is located within the transmission range, the signal may bedetected. In an embodiment, the transmission range is about 2 inches toabout 160 feet. The range can be controlled by adjusting beacon power.

The service provider server 180, in one embodiment, may be maintained bya transaction processing entity, which may provide processing forfinancial transactions and/or information transactions between the user102 and the beacons 130, 140. As such, the service provider server 180includes a service application 182, which may be adapted to interactwith the mobile device 120 and/or the beacons 130, 140 over the network160. In one example, the service provider server 180 may be provided byPayPal®, Inc., eBay® of San Jose, California, USA, and/or one or morefinancial institutions or a respective intermediary that may providemultiple point of sale devices at various locations to facilitatetransaction routings between merchants and, for example, financialinstitutions.

The service provider server 180, in one embodiment, may be configured tomaintain one or more user accounts and merchant accounts in an accountdatabase 186 each of which may include account information 188associated with one or more individual users (e.g., user 102) andmerchants For example, account information 188 may include privatefinancial information of user 102, such as one or more account numbers,passwords, credit card information, banking information, or other typesof financial information, which may be used to facilitate financialtransactions between user 102 and a merchant. In various aspects, themethods and systems described herein may be modified to accommodateusers and/or merchants that may or may not be associated with at leastone existing user account and/or merchant account, respectively.

In one implementation, the user 102 may have identity attributes storedwith the service provider server 180, and user 102 may have credentialsto authenticate or verify identity with the service provider server 180.User attributes may include personal information, banking informationand/or funding sources. In various aspects, the user attributes may bepassed to the service provider server 180 as part of a login, search,selection, purchase, and/or payment request, and the user attributes maybe utilized by the service provider server 180 to associate user 102with one or more particular user accounts maintained by the serviceprovider server 180.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flowchart 200 of a method for transmittingbeacon messages is illustrated according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In an embodiment, at step 202, at least one beacon messageis generated with a beacon message generation device (e.g., beacon 130).The beacon message may include an advertisement, coupon, promotion, or acombination thereof. For example, the beacon message can contain a URLor other address information that receiving mobile device 120 can use tolook up and retrieve information (e.g., location-based information). Inan embodiment, the beacon message can include URL information indicatinga website from which store coupons can be retrieved. For instance, agrocery store can have a beacon generation device located in or near thestore that transmits these “store coupon” type beacon messages. Anymobile computing device near the store can receive the beacon messagesand retrieve, or download, up-to-date coupons from the indicated websitefor use in the store. In another example, a local merchant or seller mayprovide items for purchase, where details of the seller (e.g., location,type of goods) and/or offered items (e.g., price, description), areincluded in a beacon message transmitted to devices within communicatingdistance with the beacon.

At step 204, the generated beacon message is transmitted by the beacon130 within a transmission range of the beacon 130 for reception by themobile device 120 located in the transmission area. Beacon messages canbe transmitted from a beacon message generation device to one or moremobile devices using a BLE wireless communication protocol. BLE is anexemplary wireless communication protocol that can be used to transmitbeacon messages as described herein with low energy cost. The beaconmessages are not limited to use with BLE, but can be used with other lowenergy or non-low energy wireless communication protocols, such asWi-Fi.

At step 206, the at least one beacon message is received and stored bythe mobile device 120. In some examples, the mobile device 120 canreceive a beacon message in sleep mode and process the beacon messagewithout awaking from sleep mode to conserve energy. In some embodiments,the mobile device 120 can display a message to the user 102 in responseto the beacon message. In other examples, the beacon message contains aURL or other address from which the mobile device 120 can retrieveadditional information. User 102 may be provided with relevantinformation (e.g., advertisements) on the mobile device 120 while in acertain location. In one embodiment, if user 102 is at a museum or largeparking garage, beacon 130 can provide mobile device 120 with locationsfor other beacons (e.g., beacon 140) in the beacon network. These beaconlocations can be shown on a map displayed on the mobile device 120.Mobile device 120 can store the received data on a storage device, andthe stored data can be updated periodically.

User 102 (and mobile device 120) travel to a location outside of thetransmission range of beacon 130, and come within a range of a second,different beacon (e.g., beacon 140). At step 208, the mobile device 120transmits the beacon message to beacon 140. The information in thebeacon message and the range of the beacon message can be set by theoriginator of the beacon message (e.g., a merchant). For example, amerchant may only want the beacon message to be communicated 50 milesoutside of beacon 130′s transmission range, or a merchant may only wantcoupons communicated in the beacon message.

At step 210, beacon 140 receives the beacon message and transmits thebeacon message in its transmission range, which may be different frombeacon 130′s transmission range. In this way, the beacon message can bepropagated and spread beyond the transmission range of beacon 130 toreach more users. Note that the transmission ranges may be the same, butbecause beacon 140 is in a different location than beacon 130, beaconmessages transmitted from beacon 140 can reach users outside the rangeof beacon 130.

A user can knowingly or unknowingly carry the beacon message to otherbeacons, thereby increasing the message's beacon range. This allowsbeacon stores, kiosks, messages, etc. to have a potentially wider reachif the beacon originator so desires.

Note that while only beacons 130 and 140 are shown and described,embodiments described herein can be extended to any number of beaconssuch that a message generated from one beacon can be propagated aroundthe world, using numerous beacons and one or more user mobile devices,even though beacon transmission distances are greatly limited.

EXAMPLE

A particular example will now be described. A person is having a garagesale in San Jose and turns on their beacon. The beacon generates amessage that says “Garage Sale at 1234 Main Street. We have vintagevinyl and comic books.” A user visiting or nearby the garage salereceives the message from the beacon on the user's mobile device whenthe device is within a transmission range of the beacon. Other messagesmay include description and prices of specific items. When the userleaves the garage sale, is out of the transmission range of the beacon,and is in the transmission range of a second beacon, the mobile devicetransmits the message(s) to the second beacon. The second beacon canthen transmit the message to other users not in proximity of the firstbeacon. As a result, a potential consumer that may not have known abouta specific item because the consumer was not able to receive informationdirectly from the garage sale beacon is now aware of the item and canproceed with getting more information about the item and/or purchasingthe item. Thus, local merchants are able to reach more potential buyers,and potential buyers are able to receive information about more itemsoffered by sellers.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computer system 300 suitable forimplementing one or more embodiments of the present disclosure,including the mobile device 120, beacons 130, 140, and service providerserver or device 180. In various implementations, the mobile device 120and beacons 130, 140 may comprise a mobile cellular phone, personalcomputer (PC), laptop, PDA, etc. adapted for wireless communication, andthe service provider server 180 may comprise a network computing device,such as a server. Thus, it should be appreciated that the devices 120,130, 140, and 180 may be implemented as computer system 300 in a manneras follows.

Computer system 300 includes a bus 312 or other communication mechanismfor communicating information data, signals, and information betweenvarious components of computer system 300. Components include aninput/output (I/O) component 304 that processes a user (i.e., sender,recipient, service provider) action, such as selecting keys from akeypad/keyboard, selecting one or more buttons or links, etc., and sendsa corresponding signal to bus 312. I/O component 304 may also include anoutput component, such as a display 302 and a cursor control 308 (suchas a keyboard, keypad, mouse, etc.). An optional audio input/outputcomponent 306 may also be included to allow a user to use voice forinputting information by converting audio signals. Audio I/O component306 may allow the user to hear audio. A transceiver or network interface320 transmits and receives signals between computer system 300 and otherdevices, such as another user device, a merchant server, or a serviceprovider server via network 322. In one embodiment, the transmission iswireless, although other transmission mediums and methods may also besuitable. A processor 314, which can be a micro-controller, digitalsignal processor (DSP), or other processing component, processes thesevarious signals, such as for display on computer system 300 ortransmission to other devices via a communication link 324. Processor314 may also control transmission of information, such as cookies or IPaddresses, to other devices.

Components of computer system 300 also include a system memory component310 (e.g., RAM), a static storage component 316 (e.g., ROM), and/or adisk drive 318. Computer system 300 performs specific operations byprocessor 314 and other components by executing one or more sequences ofinstructions contained in system memory component 310. Logic may beencoded in a computer readable medium, which may refer to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor 314 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Invarious implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as system memorycomponent 310, and transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire, and fiber optics, including wires that comprise bus 312. In oneembodiment, the logic is encoded in non-transitory computer readablemedium. In one example, transmission media may take the form of acousticor light waves, such as those generated during radio wave, optical, andinfrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media includes, for example,floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM,FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other mediumfrom which a computer is adapted to read.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by computer system 300. In various other embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a plurality of computer systems 300 coupled bycommunication link 324 to the network (e.g., such as a LAN, WLAN, PTSN,and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software in accordance with the present disclosure, such as program codeand/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readable mediums. Itis also contemplated that software identified herein may be implementedusing one or more general purpose or specific purpose computers and/orcomputer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, theordering of various steps described herein may be changed, combined intocomposite steps, and/or separated into sub-steps to provide featuresdescribed herein.

The various features and steps described herein may be implemented assystems comprising one or more memories storing various informationdescribed herein and one or more processors coupled to the one or morememories and a network, wherein the one or more processors are operableto perform steps as described herein, as non-transitory machine-readablemedium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which,when executed by one or more processors, are adapted to cause the one ormore processors to perform a method comprising steps described herein,and methods performed by one or more devices, such as a hardwareprocessor, user device, server, and other devices described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device comprising: a non-transitorymemory storing one or more beacon messages; and one or more hardwareprocessors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to readinstructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the mobile deviceto perform operations comprising: receiving a beacon message from afirst stationary beacon at a first location; and transmitting the beaconmessage to a second stationary beacon at a second location differentfrom the first location and outside a communication range of the firstbeacon.
 2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the beacon messagecomprises an advertisement, coupon, promotion, or a combination thereof.3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the beacon message comprises alink to a website.
 4. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving a selection of the link by theuser; and displaying the website to a user.
 5. The mobile device ofclaim 1, wherein the beacon message is received in sleep mode.
 6. Themobile device of claim 1, wherein the one or more stored beacon messagesare updated.
 7. A method for transmitting beacon messages comprising:receiving a beacon message, by a mobile device, from a first stationarybeacon at a first location; and transmitting the beacon message, by themobile device, to a second stationary beacon at a second locationdifferent from the first location.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thebeacon message comprises an advertisement, coupon, promotion, or acombination thereof.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the beaconmessage comprises a link to a website.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising receiving, by the mobile device, a selection of thelink and displaying, by the mobile device, the website to a user. 11.The method of claim 7, wherein the first stationary beacon, the secondstationary beacon, or both, comprise a Bluetooth low energy beacon. 12.The method of claim 7, further comprising storing, by the mobile device,the beacon message after receiving the beacon message, and wherein thestored beacon message is updated.
 13. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable tocause a stationary beacon to perform operations comprising: receiving abeacon message from a first mobile device; and transmitting the beaconmessage to a second, different mobile device at a location within thetransmission range of the stationary beacon.
 14. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the beacon messagecomprises an advertisement, coupon, promotion, or a combination thereof.15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thebeacon message comprises a link to a website.
 16. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the stationary beaconcomprises a Bluetooth low energy beacon.
 17. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the beacon message wastransmitted to the first mobile device by a different beacon.
 18. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thedifferent beacon is outside a communication range of the stationarybeacon.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13,wherein the transmission range is about 2 inches to about 160 feet. 20.The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, whereininformation in the beacon message and range of the beacon message areset by a merchant.